Learning about life, love, and using the oven

Category Archives: Rants

One of my friends who I have known since we were 7 has a blog along with her friend where they like to rant about, well, pretty much anything. And I love it! Kate and Patty are the two people who say exactly what you’re thinking about an array of topics, including but not limited to – seniors in high school who treat their portraits like a spread in Playboy, the risks of living alone, Sarah Palin, ridiculous clothing and other attire, Toddlers and Tiaras, Twilight, and the list goes on. (Seriously, if you ever need a laugh or to feel that someone, somewhere in the world feels the same way as you about something, check our their blog.)

Kate and I go way back, and after she had heard my story of my awful blind date, she asked me if I could be their first guest post. I was so honored! Of course I said yes. Not only did I get to re-tell the Worst Blind Date Ever story, I got to re-tell it in their fun, sarcastic, why-on-earth-are-you-living, angry tone that I love oh so much.

If “potato chips” happen to make it on your shopping list the next time, consider Pringles versus any other brand. This is why:

Pringles give you the best bang for you buck. Think about it – The chips in a Pringles tin are filled all the way to the top. For every other potato chip brand, they fill up the bag about 1/4 way, and the rest is air.

Before I start, I want to make it clear that I do not define myself or want to in any way refer to myself as an expert in politics or economics. Yes, I vote and took a few economics classes. And I watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report every week. I even read the news every once in a while. But I am not someone to talk deeply about the economy or politics with. Disclaimer ended.

I understand there’s many different levels to the country’s debt problem. But could one solution be as easy as my generation? I say this because I keep hearing from economic analysts that Americans are spending less, but ever since I turned 18 four years ago, I have been spending more and more each year. I know that’s the case with most of my generation, too.

While Gen Y is not as large as Gen X was, we still spend a LOT of money. We are at the age now where we are independent from our parents, we live on our way, or we have bills, or in some cases, children!

Looking at my expenses in a single month, my money goes to rent, gasoline, gas for cooking, electricity, air conditioning, groceries, eating out, alcohol, cable, internet, clothing, cell phone, and any other random payable. That is over 10 different industries receiving money from me every 30 days. While I have been fortunate enough to land a full time job and earning a decent pay, not all of my generation has. But the point is, we still spend a large sum of money in the economy. And I believe that if we were all being paid a significant check from our employers, we would spend even more, funneling money into the economy.

My main point is that if more of Gen Y was earning a steady, decent paycheck, not $8.00/hour, we could definitely put a dent into this debt. Of course, I am not really impartial to this argument because I am a part of Gen Y.